


Injustice

by AzuraJae



Category: Injustice: Gods Among Us, Shazam! (2019), Shazam! | Captain Marvel (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Death, Emotional Hurt, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Injustice Spoilers, Revenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 14:53:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19793200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzuraJae/pseuds/AzuraJae
Summary: The worst from of injustice is pretended justice.And in no way was Billy's death justified.





	1. Martyr

**Author's Note:**

> This is my hot take on a Shazam (2019) x Injustice crossover. Most of the plot here is from the Injustice games, which is an alternate universe to the main DC one. Billy was executed by Superman after speaking out against a plan to kill Gotham/Metropolis. I just wanted to modernize the story a bit and basically put the Shazamily through the Injustice plot. It always bothered me that they never really shown what happened to Billy's family in Injustice.
> 
> A bit of context, Billy was friendly with Harley Quinn in the Injustice comics shown. They were friends and Harley did try to get Billy to join the Insurgence, but she failed as Billy wanted to be the one to hold the Regime back if they did something crazy. Didn't turn out so well. Btw their relationship here is completely platonic, though Harley seemed to have had a crush on Billy, or a Big Sister Complex.
> 
> The story is split into 2 parts, into two chapters, which I will be uploading consecutively. It just flows better as two chapters.
> 
> Without further ado, enjoy. Or maybe not.

“Wait, we’re wiping out whole cities? Invading other dimensions?” Billy asked the group standing at the Regime’s table with incredulous eyes. 

_No. This isn’t right. I’ve had enough._

Billy Batson had been on the fence about this whole Regime thing. It was like he was wading through stinky toxic tar, it all just felt _wrong,_ but his heart wanted to believe in the people who lead the Regime. But wiping out entire cities? _Just_ as a show of power? That wasn’t right. How many families would be killed? He thought about his family back home. Rosa and Victor, and his siblings, the people at school, _everyone._ His siblings, they were all helping the effort in the chaos that is this world now.

“You have a problem, _Billy_?” Superman turned to him, a cold dead stare in his eyes. His name rang like a taunt.

Immediately, Billy backed away and realized that maybe he should’ve transformed into his Shazam form before attending his meeting...but, why was he so afraid? Superman is a good guy at heart, Billy knew he was. Superman would listen to reason right? 

He sucked up what little courage he had left. He didn’t have the courage of Achilles, but Billy Batson had the courage of Billy Batson.

Even as a fifteen year old boy standing up to one of Earth’s mightiest people, Billy stood his ground.

“Man’s world is incapable of self-rule. We must preserve order.” Wonder Woman said, falling into step beside Superman.

Billy couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He glanced around the room, at the reasonably mature adults. He grew so _frustrated._ How could they, the once Justice League members _not_ realize how utterly insane and psychotic this whole was? They’ve gone too far and they were too afraid not to say a thing. Billy’s frustrations and desire to change their mind overwhelmed his fear.

“No!” he said in retaliation, growing nervous as the other adults eyes turned on him. “There has to be limits, especially on _us!”_

The other members looked lamely at Billy. The only other person who seemed to sympathize was his efforts was Flash, but the man didn’t say a word. Billy was starting to think he was in a _really_ bad spot. For the first time since he’s been here, Billy felt like he was no longer among friends, among reasonable people.

“That’s enough.” Superman tried to silence him, but even if he wasn’t in his Shazam form, Billy knew that if didn’t speak up, _no one_ would. 

“No.” The boy said firmly. “It was long enough time ago. Have you _all gone nuts?_ ” He glared at the adults, the pressure in the room was almost suffocating. “Lois would never want-” 

That was a mistake. His last one.

Faster than he could even register what even happened, Superman had him by the throat, squeezing hard. That would bruise pretty bad later, Mary would be pissed...if there was ever was going to be later. As every second ticked, Billy felt himself choke, the wind was instantly knocked out of his sails as Superman only squeezed tighter, trying his best to loosen Superman’s grip to no avail. At one last ditch effort...

“Sha-”

And that would be the last thing the young Billy Batson would ever say.

Before he could get the whole word out, Superman breathed in his face, right into his open mouth. The frosty spikes enveloped his warm mouth, the walls his tongue, down to the back of his throat. It hurt, it hurt, he couldn’t move his mouth. It was like the frost was reaching inside him, tearing him from the inside. He tried to scream the name, to transform, but he couldn't. His mouth was frozen shut. At this moment, Billy knew that he was done for, for the first time, feeling what _true terror_ felt like as he stared into Superman's terrifyingly stern eyes. This was someone he looked up to...someone he admired, someone who was the greatest hero of all time (in his opinion at least) and...was he going to...kill him?

In his final moments, Billy glanced around, looking at the other adults for help, but they all just stared coldly. Flash seemed to look away, too ashamed to act. They were just going to watch Superman murder him? A fifteen year old boy?

 _Please. Help!_ He begged silently, struggling to breathe now. _I don't want to...!_

As the young helpless teen watched Superman’s eyes glow red, Billy thought back to his entire life. Back when he was homeless, finally found a home with Rosa and Victor, had siblings who showed him love he never had ever felt from his biological mother. He thought of their adventures, their soft fun moments. Who would stop Freddy’s bullies? What about Darla’s promised tea time when he came back? Would Rosa and Victor think he had run away again since he would never be able to come home? What about…

Thoughts raced through his head as he felt a searing pain in his eyes and he could only scream as loud as he could through his frozen mouth. He wanted to beg for his life, for the pain and hurt to stop. Not only was the pain just unimaginable, but his heart ached, with both regret, guilt, and betrayal. This all, he was wrong. He should’ve never joined the Regime. He should have taken Harley Quinn’s offer to join Batman, this was all stupid. Billy was mad at the Regime, but he was mad at himself for being so foolish.

The pain intensified as Billy felt his entire body spasm in a futile last ditch effort to escape. By the time the pain started to die down, Billy couldn’t really feel anything much anymore, he couldn’t even see. The last thing he saw was a flash of red, the expression of utter hate and cold by someone he used to look up to. Maybe he felt himself drop to the floor, but it was so cold now. It was sort of comforting, even if the darkness enveloping him was a bit scary. Billy knew it wouldn't hurt anymore, and that was his only comfort. 

As Billy felt the last of the pain dull into a soft watery black feeling, floating in an endless cool void, Billy thought how much he was going to miss Victor’s lasagna.


	2. Black Mary

Mary...Mary was  _ angry.  _ She knew something was wrong when Billy never came back home. Word soon came out that Shazam was dead, executed, but she refused to believe in such a thing. Billy was strong, he was wise, he wouldn’t die so easily, right? She shoo'd away any rumors and made sure none of it fell on her sibling's ears. Billy would be back. He always came back.

Wrong. It was unfortunately all wrong.

Mary didn’t believe Billy Batson, her dear adopted brother, was dead until a strange crazed looking lady showed up on the doorstep, carrying a  _ huge  _ hammer. She apparently had seeked specifically her out. It took a while for Mary to realize who she was, she and the siblings weren’t really that well versed in the whole Justice League shenanigans as much as Billy was. It was Harley Quinn.

“Yous.” She said, pointing directly at her, right as she opened the door. “Yous Billy’s sister?”

Instantly, Mary had gone completely suspicious and on high alert. She glanced behind her, seeing her siblings were safe she stepped out to face the woman. Good thing Victor and Rosa was out at the moment. 

“What do you want from me?” Mary asked warily. 

Harley Quinn looked at her, with something burning in her eyes. “I don’t  _ really  _ wants to be the bearer of baddest news...but…” She looked softly at the ground. “Billy would have wanted yous to know. He talked about you lot a lot. Mentioned a ‘Mary’ a lot too.”

_ Would?  _ What with all the past tense? 

Mary’s heart dropped. No. Not this. Tears began forming in her eyes just in anticipation of what she might hear.

“Billy? Where is he?” She questioned the woman. “Where is he? He hasn’t come home in months. We’re  _ all  _ worried.”

Harley Quinn looked her straight in the eye, angry, not her, but at the situation. “He’s a dead man. Killed by Supes in cold blood. Flashy boy told me everything, when he turned.”

“What?” Mary’s eyes widened. “No, that can’t be right.  _ You’re lying. _ I don’t believe you.” Mary tried to argue, but just looking into her eyes, Mary knew she was right. Her heart twisted into knots.

“Shazzy’s dead.” Harley Quinn said softly. “I tried, I tried to talk him outta it, y’know? Supes is  _ totally  _ crazy, even more than me. But he’s a good kid, he tried to see the good in him Regime folks. Like a hero.”

Mary had fallen onto her knees, hands on her mouth trying to suppress her tears. They were  _ just  _ getting into being a real family together. Then this horrible chaos pops up, with all the heroes fighting each other. Billy promised, he  _ promised  _ that he’d find a way to make it stop, not to worry, and just to keep Fawcett City safe while he was away. 

“I should’ve...I should’ve gone with him…” Mary choked out, the tears just dripping out of her eyes. “If I did...maybe he wouldn’t have…”

Harley Quinn, who watched the young woman utterly break down in front of her, crouched in front of the lady, a hand on her shoulder. For someone who used to work for one of the most insane people alive, she was kind, Mary thought. “We both did our best. Billy woulda wanted nuthin’ more than that.”

“Superman killed him?” Mary said, looking up at Harley Quinn with murderous eyes. “Did he  _ kill  _ my brother?”

The older woman nodded, sharing the same murderous eyes. 

After the sadness sat in, Mary still couldn’t really believe this was happening. She  _ really  _ hoped that Harley Quinn was just playing some sort of sick prank and Billy would come flying in, just in time for dinner. But even so, the unbridled rage began to set in. She was  _ angry,  _ no... _ beyond  _ angry. Mary had never felt so much fury in her entire life. 

“I’ll kill that man. I don’t care if he’s the bigshot, I’ll tear him apart.” Mary said, clutching the ground, scraping her nails on the concrete of the porch.

Suddenly, the door opened behind her and the rage faded away when she saw her siblings poking out from behind the door, all looking worried.

“Mary? What’s wrong?” Darla asked, coming outside, but as soon as she saw Harley she backed up a bit. 

“Who is that?” Freddy asked, coming in to step in front of his younger siblings, along with Pedro who eyed the woman evenly.

_ No. They can’t find out. I won’t let them die too.  _ Mary’s first thoughts was. She sprang to her feet and ran to her siblings, giving them a small hug and ushering them inside. Mary looked back to Harley Quinn, and gave her a look that she would be back soon and the woman nodded in return.

She brought her siblings to the living room.

“Why are you crying, Mary?” Darla asked, concerned.

“We heard you shouting.” Freddy explained. 

Eugene pushed up his glasses. “Isn’t that lady Harley Quinn? On Batman’s team now I think?”

Mary looked at her siblings sadly. They all  _ loved  _ Billy. Rosa and Victor did too. Mary was angry, but at the same time she was afraid to let them know. She couldn’t lose anyone else too. Billy would’ve wanted them safe, that’s the whole reason he got involved with the Justice League shenanigans. She’ll let them know after Superman was done and dealt with. Not until she seen that kryptonian blood on her hands.

The tears dried as she looked to her siblings softly.

“Hey guys, I may have to go for a while. I need...I need to help Billy with some stuff.” she explained.

“Is he coming home soon?” asked Freddy, looking concerned and curious. He looked suspicious of her behavior.

Her voice got stuck in her throat and she instead smiled. “I want you guys to take care of the house and the parents while I’m gone.” She looked to Freddy. “You’re in charge, Freddy.”

“Will you be gone for long?” Darla asked, looking like she might start crying as well.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can. I’ll keep in contact, I promise.” Mary said. “Tell mom and dad for me, okay?”

The siblings reluctantly agreed with her, dispersing into the house again as before, and she quickly packed a backpack with some supplies. As she was packing, she stopped by Billy’s room, now empty. 

He hasn’t slept in it for such a long time. It pained her so much to know that he’ll never see Billy in here again. Feeling depressed, Mary decided to make Billy’s bed, clean it up and make sure it’s all and tidy. She didn’t know why she did it, seemed like the right thing to do. After the room was cleaned, Mary patted the covers with one hand, letting the fibers of the blanket where Billy once slept comfort her and turned to leave. It was the only thing that seemed to make her feel a bit better.

Freddy met her at the door, a look of disbelief in his eyes.

“Mary, I don’t know like, what’s going on, but if you can’t tell the others for some superhero reason, tell me.” he said seriously, blocking her way out.

Freddy was Billy’s best friend. Mary tried to brush it off, but Freddy stood his ground. He wasn’t moving until she told him.

“Freddy, you  _ have  _ to promise not to tell the others. Especially Darla, not now, later I’ll tell them myself.” she said, seriously, holding him by his shoulders. “ _ Swear to me,  _ Freddy.”

The crippled teen looked at his older foster sister with surprised eyes. He has never seen her so enraged before in his life. It was a bit scary, but Freddy nodded. “Right, of course. Count on me.”

“Billy is dead.” Mary told Freddy straight, careful to keep her voice low. 

“What? No!” Freddy began to react as violently as she did. She grabbed her brother’s shoulders and stabilized me. “B-but...Wait…”

“Freddy,  _ promise me,  _ Freddy. Keep the family safe. If  _ anything  _ goes wrong, take  _ everyone  _ and hide in the lair. And  _ don’t  _ come out until it’s safe.” Mary told him, as her brother tried to make sense of everything.

“Billy’s…! No, that’ can’t be…!” Freddy was still stammering, looking at his sister with horrified eyes. He finally slumped. “He’s my best friend...I don’t...want him to die...right? He’s not really...” he looked to his sister in earnest, his eyes begging her to tell him it was a joke or a lie. 

It wasn’t. It hurt Mary that he couldn’t.

“Freddy,  _ I’m  _ going to take care of it. I  _ promise _ you. But you  _ have  _ to keep the family safe. For Billy’s sake.”

Freddy already looked like he was already crying hard. Billy and him had been  _ so  _ close. Freddy had been suffering from withdrawal symptoms when Billy went to deal with the faction nonsense, but this is something that Freddy would take a long time to recover from. Maybe not at all. He stayed silent for a while, but he finally spoke.

“Who did it?” He asked. “Who killed him?” Freddy’s voice wavered as he thought about his best friend’s death.

Mary wished she could confess but she steeled herself. “I’ll tell you later. I don’t want you or the others running off to get revenge. I don’t want anyone else taken away.. You can maybe tell Pedro, but you can’t tell Darla, Eugene, or the parents. They...won’t be ready to hear the news.”

Her brother looked like he was about to object, but then shot his mouth when he heard Darla talking from upstairs. He was already freaking out and frustrated, but he couldn’t imagine how Darla would feel if she found out Billy was freaking dead.

“What are you going to do? Where are you going? I’ll come with you, Pedro can-” Freddy said.

“No Freddy. It’s just me. You have to stay here and protect the family. I  _ promise  _ I’ll be okay.” Mary assured him. 

“Billy said that too, and he’s dead!” he hissed at her, almost wailing.

Mary quieted down after hearing that. Instead she reached over and pulled Freddy into a tight hug. In the hugs, the two siblings collapsed into tears, over the death of their brother, and the whole situation. What injustice was this? Mary would make Superman  _ pay.  _

“I have to go, Harley Quinn is waiting for me.” Mary told him, releasing him out of the hug. “Promise me you’ll protect everyone. Billy would want you to.”

“Okay.” Freddy said finally, sniffing monstrously. “ _ You  _ promise me, whoever did this. Pay them back. If you need help, don’t hesitate to call me.”

Mary gave all her siblings one more hug before she finally left the front door. She made sure that the house was in order before she finally left. Harley Quinn was sitting on her hammer, seeming to be deep in thought before she noticed Mary coming out the front door. 

“Ready to squish a supa-fly?” she asked the woman.

“I won’t stop until Superman pays for what he’s done. Tenfold.” Mary told Harley.

“Good, been lookin’ to get to some Supe-smashing with someone who cares just as much about ol’ Billy like me..” She lifted her hammer to her shoulder.

Mary glared into the sky, determined to avenge Billy’s death. 

“Shazam!” 

A bolt of lightning. The name tasted bitter on her lips, a sour forgotten echo of the kind smile her brother had, turn foul by his blood on his face.

And the two zoomed off together.

* * *

-~*~-

No matter how much Flash wanted to apologize to her, there was no way Mary would be able to forgive someone who watched her brother get executed in front of him. Batman tried to reason with her, that if Flash attacked, he would have been dead too, but there was  _ no excuse.  _ Billy was a good kid, he always was. It wasn’t fair, he always did his best. 

Flash could’ve done anything,  _ anything,  _ to stop Billy’s death. But he stood and watched. In her eyes, Flash was very much the killer as Superman was, but she was reasonable enough to know that he would be useful against Superman. That’s all she cared about.

He saw good in the Regime, he wanted to believe what they were doing was right. He was almost their morality pet...almost. He died believing that anyone could be brought to the light, even that psychotic Superman.

Mary had always believed in heroics, to do the right thing. But in this world where chaos reigns supreme, is it even right to be a hero? She only joined the Insurgency because Harley Quinn and Batman promised her that she would bring justice to Billy’s death. As long as she’s on the side fighting Superman, the killer, it didn’t matter to her.

It won’t matter until she had that kryptonian by the throat and fry his eyes out, just like how Billy died.

She’s become aware that she’s become a bit unhinged since she left home. Without the love and comfort from her siblings and parents, the only thing that kept Mary going was her violent drive for revenge and the messages she received from home once in a while. Knowing her family was safe was her only light, but revenge was all dark that followed. 

Eventually, Mary started to notice a change in her powers. She had taken the name Mary Marvel, unable to associate with the name ‘Shazam’ anymore. Eventually, she realized that she spent a lot of time in her ‘hero’ form. She didn’t know why, it just made her feel stronger, in control. Eventually, her lightning had a tinge of purple and for some reason, her suit changed black.

How appropriate. Funeral colors. She almost laughed, it was almost a joke.

The cynical outlook on her life and the desire for revenge, it changed her. But Mary didn’t mind. She just wanted her family back, she wanted her brother back. She wanted blood.

Memories of Billy became skewed, Mary couldn’t really see Billy as anything other than a martyr, someone who was too good for this wretched world. Her idealized memories of Billy only made her feel right on the concept to kill Superman. 

She spent a lot of time with Harley Quinn, who filled her in on the details. Harley was apparently a good friend with Billy, and had tried to talk him out of the Regime, but he believed in Superman too much. Look where that got him. 

But sometimes, she would look to the sky.

She missed Billy. She missed her siblings. She missed her parents.

They will pay. Superman will pay, for taking their idyllic life away from Billy, from her. 

Mary assured others that she wasn’t evil, despite her new black wardrobe saying so. She’s just driven. 

Finally, the day finally came when she met Superman face-to-face. She clenched her fist, fighting the urge to just tackle him right now, but she wanted him to know, she  _ needed  _ to let him know. She needed him to understand  _ pain.  _

“And who might you be?” Superman asked with a cock of his eyebrow. His eyes were cold, lifeless, hardened. Mary would feel no remorse for killing him. 

“The name is Black Mary.” she told him. “Sister of Billy Batson, the boy you murdered.”

Superman seemed to almost flinch at this, but he floated in place, looking at her with sharp eyes. “Out for revenge? That isn’t much of a hero of you.”

“I stopped being a hero the moment you took my brother’s life.” Black Mary told him coldly. “Superman, you’re going to wish you died back then.”

“What she said.” Harley said, readying her hammer. She was with her too. “Don’t really care if it’s good or not, but justice for Billy sounds pretty good to me.”

“Shazam couldn’t defeat me, what makes you think you can?” taunted Superman, though it was more of a comment than anything. 

That was all it took for Black Mary to lose it, dashing towards Superman with all the fury in the world in her hands. As she stared down into Superman’s shocked eyes as he rushed towards her, she relished in the thought that this was the same face that her brother last saw. How great would it be to see it in all shades of pain.

Somewhere deep inside her, Mary wondered if Billy would’ve approved of this. He wouldn’t be consumed by revenge, he had a good heart, that’s why the Wizard chose him. Billy would have…

Well, that didn’t matter.

Billy was dead after all.

And nothing was going to bring him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mary's characterization here was based a lot on her comic incarnation, where she sided with Black Adams for a while, though tbh I haven't read too much into it. I do know she went into a costume change when she joined Black Adams for a while, which is my inspiration for making her Black Mary here. As per the comic Mary I based Mary Bromfield on, she's not evil or anything, she's just consumed by rage and revenge.
> 
> I would like to think that Black Mary and Harley Quinn became good friends, both bonding over the loss of Billy. I found it kind of cute that Harley Quinn was friends with Billy in Injustice. I don't know if Black Mary would be able to kill Superman, she might be able to, at least in this incarnation of the story.
> 
> The story derailed a bit from the story of Injustice, but it's basically my own spin on things. Don't know if I will be writing more of this. I might, but I don't have plans at the moment. It was pretty dark, but pretty fun to write honestly. As per usual, a lot of my stories have bad endings 8D Hope you at least enjoyed reading it, whoever it is anyway...

**Author's Note:**

> Most of the dialogue in first chapter was actually from the Injustice comics, so if you read it, then that's why it sounds familiar. Also, there's a lot of Captain Marvel / Shazam references from various versions I put in here, kudos if anyone is able to tell where it is.
> 
> A change I made to the story is that I had Billy in his human mortal form instead of his hero one, because it never made sense to me that Superman's laser eyes was able to kill Billy as Shazam / Captain Marvel. I have a hankering that they did it so they wouldn't have to animate a 14 year old kid get executed in-game. Anyways, I changed that to make Billy more vulnerable and still make it accurate to the Injustice storyline.


End file.
